Epic NZ, Week One

Sunday morning -- the bulk of the crew are just finishing up a local Half Marathon race that Johno and Scott lined up. Pretty impressive results from the lads -- have to say that I am impressed with everyone here. The guys are all training out of their skins -- hopefully, they are sharing their experiences.

Most of the lads hit their weekly PB for volume some time on Day Three -- and we kept it rolling thereafter.

I started the camp with new pedals and a complete lack of pace discretion -- gut feel is that the combination overloaded my calves and toasted one of my ATs. Currently hooked up to an eStim machine with Voltaren flowing through my veins (I don't like anti-inflams but I hate the idea of a van ride more). Tomorrow is 220K+ over at least 3 saddles/passes. Not really sure what's going to happen.

Still, it's all good. The lads aren't the only one's training out of their skins. This is far and away the easiest way to get into shape. I've been spat out of a few times but that's OK -- the guys doing the spitting (Skin & Bones Bayliss and The Baron) have what it takes to be low-8 IMers. Hopefully, Stephen's eyes have been opened as well -- he rolls a good gear on the flats for a 70kg lad. I was at the end of a five-man pace line -- dead flat, no wind and I went out the back at 45kph near the town of Hope -- that was Thursday. I was lost at Hope. I did get a bit of satisfaction of using my local knowledge to beat everyone on to the College through better route selection (I told the guys that I could be useful).

...and Mike C should remember that. He's right there shoulder-to-shoulder with them. Something about Canadians and big volume -- Robo Seth and now Mike. We need to think up a nickname for him. Something about these Canadians -- they are just so... cheerful! Great guy.

Jonas had a few tough days at the start -- I suppose two workouts in December (total) wasn't the best prep. However, he took the pain and is getting stronger every day. Mentally, it is quite a bit tougher for a <8:30 dude to get spat out the back then a <10 guy. The big guy had me doing fly in the pool yesterday and was back to his goofy self. I predict that he'll be back to his monster-self once we are churning down the Old West Coast Road on Thursday -- I hope to be there!

KP tells me that my board is spending a lot of time debating training protocols. Tip of the day... make a choice, stick with it for 2006 and search the dbase (while stretching) when you feel like kicking it around again.

Bella has been on fire the whole way. An example of how ride, don't think, can really work. She's riding blind (no HR, no speed, no cadence, no power, no problem!). Just hangs on. We dropped her last Thursday because she ran out of gears on a descent. Back on the flats, we keep the pressure on and, despite that, she towed Brandon back up to our group. Some folks train very well in a group situation, she's one of them.

So what about the title... well, Dave likes to train with Simon. Now Dave is the fittest guy I know in his 50s... however... Simon is the fittest guy that I know period!

Dave loves to run with Simon -- speed is addictive and training with the big dogs is a lot of fun. However, often our mind and muscles are stronger than our connective tissue. As a result, Dave spends a lot of time with running injuries and I've been known to comment that it's simply nuts to do run training with Simon.

If you've been reading Wim's blog then you'll know that my pacing strategy has been remarkably similar to Dave's. The results not far off either.

Oh yeah, Wim's taken the exact opposite approach to me. He's up at the front but conserving and being very moderate in his approach. That probably is not appearing in his numbers because he's in such good shape. One of the best things about these camps is getting to meet guys like Wim. I hope that we'll be able to train together in the future (fingers crossed he doesn't get too fast or I won't be able to hold his wheel!).

Scott's suggested easing off a few times, in private and in public, however, I can't help it. It's just a lot more fun to be the slowest guy in the fastest group.

Can't promise when I'll get a chance to write again. Things are about to get tough for the next few days.